Sausalito Nights (Montgomery Beauty Book 1)

by Stephanie Salvatore

  She giggled, and pecked my lips over and over again. “I love you, Mr. Montgomery.”

  Lorelai took her bouquet of flowers back and we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, down to the road where a white horse and buggy carriage waited to take us on a ride through the vineyard.

  After helping her in, I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her as the driver took off. As nervous as I was about losing this women not all that long ago, we went through so much to get to this very moment; and it was more than worth fighting for. Lorelai Sienna Montgomery was now my wife, my queen. She was perfect in every imaginable way and now she was mine to love and protect.

  ***

  Two Weeks Later

  The honeymoon was over and we were back home settling into the boathouse and unpacking. Rummaging through an unpacked tote, I found a wrapped up box and chuckled lowly, no name on it as to who it could’ve been from. “Hey honey?”

  Lorelai was in the kitchen making us lunch. “Yeah, babe?”

  “Come here. I found a present.”

  “A present? Who’s it from?”

  “I’m not sure.” I looked at her as she sat next to me.

  “What are you waiting for? Open the mystery present!”

  I chuckled and looked at her. “We should do it together.”

  I set the other end on her leg and we each took a side to open. Pulling the box open, there was a wooden plaque inside that was engraved with ‘The Montgomerys’ on it.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “Who would wrap up a family name and conveniently stick it in our house?”

  I chuckled. “I don’t know. Should we go hang it?”

  “Hey. There’s scratches on the back of it. Look.” She turned it around to show me and continued. “What if some creep snuck in here while we were sleeping?”

  I laughed and smiled at her. “Then I guess I’m a creep sneaking into my own house.”

  “Christopher!” She yelled and followed after me as I grabbed a nail and a hammer from my tool box.

  I continued laughing, and walked to the door and opened it. “Are you going to come document this monumental moment with your awesome photography or continue groveling?”

  She ran upstairs. “I’m not groveling!”

  I looked toward the stairs. “Yes you are!”

  She came back downstairs. “You think you’re funny and you’re really, really not, Mr. Montgomery!”

  I chuckled. “I am too! You don’t know funny when it’s front of your face.”

  She ignored me as she set up the camera and looked at me. “When you’re ready, Mr. Montgomery.”

  I placed the nail to the center of the door after measuring the width, plotting it in the center and nailed it in. Looking back at her, I smiled brightly. She rolled her eyes and took the picture.

  “Can we hang it together?” She asked, excitedly.

  “Of course, get over here.”

  She walked around, and I gave her one half of the ribbon and together we hung it over the nail.

  I turned her toward me and wrapped her in my arms, rubbing her lower back. ”It looks perfect, Mrs. Montgomery.”

  “It does. Should we take a picture outside? We can use it for Christmas cards.”

  I leaned down and kissed her gently. “That sounds perfect, my beautiful crafty wife.”

  She moved the tripod outside, and I stepped out and closed the wooden door. She set the camera and came and stood in front of me. I wrapped an arm around her, placing my hand over the small baby bump, and her hand fell gently on top of mine like clockwork.

  “3,2,1…”

  Snap.

  The Devil Within

  Lorelai

  Approximately six months later, Spring had sprung and I was thirty nine weeks pregnant, and a wobbling duck as Christopher liked to refer to me. I accepted the playful insult, and went around the house quacking randomly. My husband thought it was quite funny, and I was always amused and surprised at how we grew as a married couple. He finally adapted to what I like to call a sense of humor.

  I was waiting for him to come home from work; and I stood up to check on dinner and a warm liquid dripped down the inside of my legs just as the door opened. “Uh oh…Chris…”

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “I think we’re going to have to turn the oven off and forget dinner.”

  “Why?”

  “I think my water just broke.”

  Chris quickly grabbed our hospital bag and led me to the bedroom to change my pants, helping me clean up before we rushed out of the house and went to the hospital.

  ***

  12 hours later

  I laid in my hospital bed, completely exhausted in a love drunk state of mind, looking down at Nathaniel Kingston Montgomery. He was healthy and perfect in every way possible.

  Chris was standing and admiring our handsome little prince as someone came knocking at the door, and Marie peeked her head around the corner.

  I smiled wide and gasped. “Aunty Marie… You’re here…”

  She smiled as she walked in with balloons, flowers and little gift bag. “Yes she is. How’d everything go?”

  I smiled down at the tiny human in my arms. “It was very slow going. I went natural and it sucked, but he was worth it.” I paused. “Do you wanna hold him?”

  “Absolutely!” She walked over, and I sat up and carefully handed him off, watching as Marie sat down and admired him in silence for a moment. “Oh my god, he’s stinking adorable, Lorelai.”

  I smiled. “He really is. He’s perfect. I already counted all of his fingers and toes, and kissed him a whole bunch.”

  She giggled. “I’m so happy for you guys.” She sat and rocked him back and forth. “Have you seen or talked to Luci?”

  I shook my head. “No. Not since the wedding.”

  Chris grabbed my hand and wrapped his fingers around mine. “We’ve talked about this. She made her choice.”

  Marie nodded. “I know. I haven’t seen or spoken to her either, and I can proudly say I’m running the club just fine without her help.”

  I nodded. “Well, I know I’m not much of a help with that these days; but if she’s gone, you should do something about eliminating her half of the ownership.”

  “I tried. My dad said we couldn’t without further discussion.”

  I sighed and looked at her. “I’m sorry she did that to you.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be. You have a family of your own to worry about now. It’s okay, Lorelai.”

  I smiled. “Two handsome men and a little lady.”

  She laughed. “Exactly.” She kissed Nathan’s forehead. “You’re too cute for your own good, little man Montgomery.” She stood, and placed him back in my arms. “I should get back, but call me when you come home okay?”

  “I will. I love you, Marie.”

  She leaned down and hugged me. “I love you too, sister.” She pulled away and walked toward the door. Chris and I sat there watching as she left.

  Chris sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down at me and our little miracle rainbow baby. I smiled back at him and placed my free hand on his leg. Life was officially complete with the arrival of Nathan. I decided to quit my job at the winery, and his parents were completely understanding. Chris would be home with me for the first six weeks before he went back to work. Life was good. No scratch that, life was fantastic. I had an amazing husband and a little boy that I already adored and loved so much, and I couldn’t wait to see where the road of life would take us.

  ***

  Luciana

  Four Years Later

  Christmas Eve was upon us. People everywhere were gathering together to celebrate this joyous holiday with friends and family, my family included. I walked through the penthouse with a glass of whiskey over the rocks. Walking through the crowd of people, I eyed Anthony standing by the snack table popping an olive in his mouth, and narrowed my eyes at him before I slipped down the double black glass staircase to the wall of p
ortraits.

  I looked at him as he came up next to me. “Ready for the next chapter of your life to begin?”

  He smirked. “I was born ready.”

  With a stone cold face, I unlocked the sliding wall behind my father’s portrait and we made our way through the dark secured hallways. Walking into the vault, I grabbed a plate sitting on the buffet table. “Help yourself. We’re going to be here a while.”

  I made myself a plate of food and sat down at the control station; hitting the power switch, the screens lit up. The front and center screen popping on first.

  “Who are those people?” he asked.

  “Oh…Um…that’s my sister and her little shithead of a husband. She chose him over our family…”

  Anthony raised an eyebrow. “So why are you watching them? What did they do?”

  “She cut me off.” I snapped and moved the camera in on a little boy that appeared to be around four years old. “That’s my nephew…Nathan.” I moved the camera again and zoomed in a bit on the identical twin baby girls digging into what appeared to be mini birthday cakes with a number one on them. “And these are my nieces, Hannah and Hayley. Identical twins.”

  “Hmmm…so is this just a basic surveillance?”

  “Pretty much. She thinks I left Sausalito, but I’m making my return sooner than she thinks.” I said in a simple monotone. Sitting back to eat our Christmas dinner, while the other cameras around the boathouse popped up around the main screen.

  Turning the volume up, we listened in to the family eating and celebrating the girls' birthdays as the doorbell rang.

  Chris stood up to answer the door with a Santa hat over his head. A never before seen identical image of myself stood in the doorway, soaking wet from the rain outside.

  I watched on as Anthony leaned forward squinting his eyes. “Who is that at the door?”

  I zoomed in a bit when a concerned Chris stepped back to look at Lorelai.

  Anthony’s mouth fell open as he looked from the screen over to me and back at the screen, his eyes widened in a baffled state of mind.

  A dark laugh escaped my lips. My puppet master strings were in place and the games were just beginning.

  The End

  Between The Raindrops: Montgomery Beauty Book Two

  Follow Lorelai and Chris into their next adventure of raising their children with a clear mind of leaving the Castillos and their blood bath worthy Mafia organization behind.

  After Lorelai wiped the slate clean of her toxic blood relatives, she is now able to focus on the family she always wanted with Christopher. Join them as they venture through the ups and downs of raising their hormonal teenagers who come forward to tell their own story.

  A message from a familiar face:

  The monitor scratched loudly.

  An all too familiar face moved across the unsteady screen. She wore a red hooded pea coat; her dark hair fell around her face. Luciana cleared her throat and an evil smirk broke through her jungle red lipstick. “Hello world. I don’t know if you can hear me…the system over here is faulty, so I must be quick! Now that you’ve finished adventuring through how Lorelai and Chris thought they defeated the Castillos, I want you to do me a favor. Stay tuned because the story isn’t over just yet. Lorelai thinks she got her way when she stole the family's money to keep her mouth shut and ran off to marry Chris. You might be wondering what the hell that ending was all about, but I...”

  The scribbles started cutting the young woman off.

  “I don’t have much time. Just know that you haven’t seen the last of me. Lorelai will pay for turning her back on our family!” She leaned forward as her bright blue eyes looked into the screen and paused as she stared into the camera. “That’s a promise.”

  The screen scrambled and went black.

  The journey to get here has been quite a long process, almost two decades to be exact. I have so many people who have had my back, scooting me along the pathway to publishing. First and foremost, I want to thank my editor, Kitka Buchanan. You were there when I hit the brick wall. There was a time when I didn’t think any of this would be possible. With your kindness, and heart of gold, you slipped me away from that brick wall with little to no scrapes and bruises when it came to transitioning this dream to a reality.

  To my Mother, who gave me life and constantly told me what a crazy imagination I had. You have been my endless supporter. No matter the hard times, I am forever grateful for you recognizing that I had a creative talent.

  JM Walker, I’ve sat and fangirled over your beautiful book cover designs, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic and thankful that your talents get to be the headliner to my book babies.

  Sunshine, you are truly a ray of light! For all the late-night chats throwing ideas at you and making your ears bleed with my endless banter and questions regarding all things Montgomery Beauty. You are not just my best friend, but my sister. If it weren’t for you being my rock to break the anxiety, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

  Katlyn Webb. Girl. Our friendship bloomed into something fiercely beautiful! You too were the rock I didn’t know I needed. Thank you for giving me and the Montgomery Fuckery timeline a chance and for being in my circle of support. It means absolutely everything to me.

  To my PA, Jordan Hummel. My gosh, you are a blessing I didn’t know I needed. You’ve kicked it in the ass thus far and this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see where this road takes us!

  KJ. My British soul sister whom I am also forever thankful for. You gave me a giant push of motivation in more ways than one. Let’s face it. We would be here for centuries if I had to list the reasons your name made this cut.

  Kirsty Eyre, Heather Garcia, and my childhood best friend, Megan – All of you ladies have had a huge influence in helping me get where I am today.

  And not lastly, or mostly, I want to send a big fat thank you to Jared Padalecki for launching the Love Yourself First campaign and being the amazing, kind, moosey human being that you are. It was because of Love Yourself First that I kicked myself in the ass to get here.

  There are so many other names, reasons, and memories I could list here; but it would probably take another novel to do it. You people know who you are, and I’m beyond thankful and humbled that you are there to back me up and run with me on this crazy journey.

  Stephanie was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She lives, breathes, and drinks in fangirling over her favorite celebs, her dog, and being a self-appointed social media snob. She’s got a wild imagination by nature, which drove her to write. Steph tries to stay true to the phrase, “Love Yourself First.” LYF is what inspired her to publish her first book. When she’s not slaving over creating words to form a story, you can find her feeding her caffeine addiction, traveling or spending time with her friends and family.

  You can find Stephanie here:

  Facebook Author Page

  https://www.facebook.com/SassySalvatoreWritesWords

  Facebook Fan Group – S. Salvatores Nook

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/448910852168867

  Instagram

  https://www.instagram.com/author_stephanie_salvatore

  Spotify

  Username: stephanieryan8587

  Playlist: Sausalito Nights Soundtrack

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three />
  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Acknowledgements

  About The Author